Nancy Dubuc, head of A&E Networks, is in talks to take over Vice Media

By Emily Steel, New York Times

Published 1:39 pm, Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Photo: Amanda Edwards /Getty Images

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Nancy Dubuc, who announced Monday that she was stepping down as chief executive of A&E Networks, is reportedly taking over as CEO at Vice Media. Outgoing CEO Shane Smith is expected to remain on, possibly as chairman, the New York Times reported. less

Nancy Dubuc, who announced Monday that she was stepping down as chief executive of A&E Networks, is reportedly taking over as CEO at Vice Media. Outgoing CEO Shane Smith is expected to remain on, possibly as ... more

Photo: Amanda Edwards /Getty Images

Nancy Dubuc, head of A&E Networks, is in talks to take over Vice Media

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Shane Smith is preparing to cede his position as Vice Media’s chief executive officer to Nancy Dubuc, who announced Monday that she was stepping down as chief executive of A&E Networks, according to people briefed on the matter.

Smith, 48, is expected to remain at Vice Media — potentially as its chairman, said one of the people, who requested anonymity because the moves were not yet final. Dubuc, 49, was in talks to take on the chief executive job after she leaves A&E, the television group owned by Hearst and Disney, the people said. Hearst is the parent company of the San Antonio Express-News.

Dubuc has built close ties with Vice since A&E Networks invested $250 million in the company in 2014. Dubuc, who serves on the board of Vice and is known to be close to Smith, oversaw the joint venture that started the Viceland TV network in 2016.

In recent years, Smith emerged not only as the face of Vice but as the media mogul for the digital age. The combination of a brash maverick and a consummate salesman, Smith helped transform Vice from a freebie punk magazine started in Montreal in 1994 into a global company with about 3,000 employees, a TV network, a digital outlet, a film-production company and programs on HBO. Vice is backed by corporate giants like Disney and Fox.

Recommended Video:

Now Playing:

Vice Employees Claim Company Created 'Degrading' Culture More than one hundred employees accused Vice of creating an uncomfortable work environment. Several female employees spoke with the New York Times claiming their bosses made sexual advances. Co-founders Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi apologized for the misconduct.

Media: Wibbitz

But there was a dark side to that ascent. In December, a New York Times investigation detailed the mistreatment of women at the company and found four settlements involving allegations of sexual harassment or defamation against Vice employees. In addition, more than two dozen women said they had experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct at the company, including unwanted kisses, groping, lewd remarks and propositions for sex.

In response to the article, Smith and Suroosh Alvi, who founded Vice Media with Smith, said in a statement that “from the top down, we have failed as a company to create a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone, especially women, can feel respected and thrive.” They said that a “boys club” culture at Vice had “fostered inappropriate behavior that permeated throughout the company” and pledged a number of changes, including pay parity by the end of 2018.

Since then, Vice’s leadership has been in turmoil. Its chief digital officer, Mike Germano, left the company after it looked into harassment allegations against him. The company’s president, Andrew Creighton, has been on leave while the board reviews a $135,000 settlement involving sexual harassment allegations against him from a former employee. And in February, a former employee sued the company, claiming that it had marginalized women and systematically discriminated against them by paying men substantially more for similar work.

News that Dubuc was in talks to take on the chief executive job at Vice was first reported by Variety.

Her future has been the subject of intense speculation in the media industry over the past two months.

Dubuc was a finalist for the top job at Amazon Studios, a position that ultimately went to NBC executive Jennifer Salke (Salke started at Amazon on Monday).

Around the time Salke was offered the job last month, a person close to Dubuc said she had grown weary of the extended interview process and removed herself from the proceedings with the plan of signing a contract that was waiting for her at A&E. Her return seemed like a settled matter.

Even in the chatty confines of the media business, few people foresaw that the top Vice job would be in Dubuc’s future.

Dubuc and Salke are prominent female media executives who have made huge moves in recent months, at a time when female leadership is at a premium. The Fox TV group co-chief executive, Dana Walden, has a contract that expires this summer, and her next move is also being watched with keen interest within the entertainment industry.

Dubuc plans to step down from her post at A&E on April 16. Abbe Raven, a longtime A&E executive who retired from the company in 2015, will lead the company until a replacement is found, Hearst and Disney said in a statement announcing Dubuc’s departure.

In the statement, Dubuc said she had called A&E Networks home for nearly 20 years and was ready for a new challenge.

“Anyone who knows me well knows I am an entrepreneur, creator, rebel and disrupter at heart,” she said. “I have a famous neon sign in my office that blares ‘Who dares wins.’ After 20 years at A&E, the hardest thing will be to leave the people and company I love. But, as a creative executive and leader, and to stay true to my personal mantra, I need my next dare and my next challenge.”